Chaos overload
by YoungTakinom
Summary: Bob is finally pursuing Hex while trying to keep Megabyte a secret from her. Dot doesn't like this competition, and to make things even worse, Mike and Turbo are openly interested in the virus. Hex is soaking up the attention, slowly becoming a part of the group, and wrapping Mainframe around her fingers. But if Dot doesn't want her there, then neither does Matrix. Or does he?
1. Chapter 1

Originally this was supposed to be a bunch of one shots, but then I realized I could stuck them together.

Chapter one: Good kitty

Bob was heartbroken. It had been ten whole seconds since the wedding, and it was just sinking in. All of the pain was more than he bare, and yet, he still loved Dot. The guardian sat quietly on his couch. Mike was probably out getting more interviews. The silence was nice- it gave him a chance to think.

How could Dot propose to him and then marry his copy? They were engaged. She had asked him. Didn't that mean anything to her? He was willing to dedicate the rest of his life to her. He trusted her to do the same.

For better or worse, till deletion do them part...

 _"You can't do this, Dot."_ the guardian could hear his voice again as he thought of that moment _"I love you."_

 _"I'm sorry."_

She was definitely sorry now, but Bob wasn't ready to take her back. He needed to be able to trust her before he could do that. But he trusted her then. How could he ever trust her after that?

But he wanted to. His heart ached for her. He still loved her, even what she did to him.

The sound of meowing got his attention quickly. Scuzzy was sitting by his feet. The guardian got angry. He was extra gentle as he picked up the cat. After Bob was stupid enough to almost kill himself just to separate from Glitch, Megabyte had not only moved in with Dot, but he was cruel enough to kick Hexadecimal's cat out of the guardian's apartment. What was the point in that? If he wasn't going to be there, what harm was Scuzzy going to do to anything?

Someone should have noticed how strange that was, but apparently they somehow thought kicking out a helpless cat after his owner died was something Bob would do.

"Good boy, Scuzzy." Bob said, placing the cat in his lap and petting it. The cat purred happily. Bob smiled. At least someone still loved him. "Very good boy."

The cat got down. Bob smiled- the cat was as fickle as its owner, but even when her mask cracked, they still loved each other. They loved their guardian too.

Bob's eyes widened at a thought. Hex loved him after everything they had been through. She was a virus. He was a guardian. They were supposed to be enemies, yet when she kidnapped him when he first got back to find Mainframe in ruins, she didn't even go so far as to threaten him until after he insulted her. She didn't attempt to go through with her threat until his hand got close to her mask.

Just now he understood why she grew her claws out at his hesitation; her mask was her weakness, and he had already hurt her once.

He tried to see it from her point of view- she had innocently made the town pretty for people who hated her in an attempt to gain their positive attention, and he lied to her, taking advantage of the fact that she trusted him, and ripped her face off in return. He made her put up with Mike, adding constant annoyance to her already painful recovery.

And when her dear brother helped her send him away to the Web after what the protector of Mainframe had done to her, she couldn't even trust her family.

She had been so casual when she had explained their relationship.

 _"He's my brother!" She was so happy, almost proud. For a nanosecond they forgot the danger they were in._

 _"But you're always trying to kill each other!" Bob tried to make sense of it._

 _"Oh, that's just sibling rivalry."_

She believed it. Somehow she believed that it was just sibling rivalry and that Megabyte loved her somehow. She believed it enough to think that she could just walk away after Megabyte saved her life. Even after all the times they had tried to kill each other, she trusted her brother.

She trusted Bob too before she was forcefully merged with Megabyte. Who knows what that monster of a brother said to her to make her turn on Bob?

And yet, she was happier than anyone else when Bob came home, even after how he hurt her. If only he had seen that sooner.

After everything came to an end and started again, she eventually came back more beautiful than ever, just like the rest of the world.

Hex tried so hard to get his attention. She would have done anything for him. She gave her life so he could live.

After Dot and Matrix had made it clear that they still didn't trust her, she saved them too. She could have let Dot die. Dot was the competition. Dot hated viruses, and she had every right to after what had happened, but when Hex tried to be her sister, almost the entire family rejected her. Enzo tried, but he wasn't allowed to be her friend, even after she used her powers to bring their father back.

And she gave Enzo the power to have him back again. She didn't have to do that. She could have just left, but she didn't. He was the only one in the family who was nice to her, and she rewarded the entire family for it.

Hex was wonderful. She was so forgiving and generous, even as a virus. She wasn't what everyone thought she was. She was the benign virus he kept insisting existed, and he hadn't even noticed. She had always caused just enough to keep herself amused. If only she had a few friends to keep her amused, but all she had were Mike and Scuzzy, and she hadn't known Mike very long.

"Guardian." he heard her voice. Tears raced to his eyes. He missed her so much. "Bob." The voice was louder this time. Bob couldn't stop the tears from falling down his cheeks. It was so realistic. "Megabyte!"

Bob jumped to his feet. It wasn't a memory- Hex's voice was calling out to him. He looked around frantically, eager to save the day and scoop her thin, intimidating yet fragile-looking body into his strong arms.

"Hex, I'm here! It's me. The real me. I'm Bob. I'm not Megabyte! Where are you?"

"Guardian." The voice was calm again. Bob looked in it's direction. Scuzzy was sitting in front of the guest room door, looking at him, smiling at him. Hex's face was on the screen; Scuzzy was playing a recording. "Guardian."

"Scuzzy!" Bob scolded as he walked to the door. He had let cat in there so many times. It should have been easier to just leave the door open, but Bob couldn't handle seeing inside. Technically it had Mike's room, but the television didn't use it much, so he had just let Hex use it during her short time as a sprite. "What have I told you about using Hexadecimal's voice to get my attention?"

"Guardian." Scuzzy jumped in excitement, turning to face the door

Bob stopped in front of it and crossed his arms. Scuzzy had to be trained. "I don't think so." The cat looked up at him. "You have to stop using recording to get my attention. I'm not going to open that door for you unless you start asking like a normal cat."

The cat rubbed against his leg. Bob gave in. He looked away as he opened it, not being able to bare seeing the condition it was in. But as he started to walk away, Scuzzy bit down on his pants leg.

"Scuzzy!" Bob scolded in surprise. The cat continued pulling him towards the open door. "I don't want to go in there. Let go." Scuzzy didn't listen. Bob got louder and kept walking, pulling the cat across the room with him. "Scuzzy, I told you to let go of me." The cat was being stubborn. Even the sound of Bob's pants ripping wouldn't get the cat to let go. "Fine, I'll go in there." Bob gave in, not wanting anymore more damage done to his uniform.

If Hex had been there to fix it, Bob wouldn't have minded letting Scuzzy rip his clothes. Hex was great with sewing up any damage the cat managed to cause, and Bob had gotten attached to the cat. It wasn't the first time Scuzzy had torn holes in his pants. The cat didn't know any better. The guardian had made sure to take time out to play with him while Hex was there. This was allowed before, so of course Scuzzy wouldn't understand what he was doing wrong.

Scuzzy rushed into the room and immediately started playing with the curtains, harmlessly slapping them with his tail.

Bob took a deep breath before going in. It wasn't perfectly clean, but it wasn't exactly cluttered either. The bed still hadn't been made and there was a nightgown and some art supplies on the floor. The guardian grinned. Hex used to lay on the floor and paint; what a cute quirk.

He sat down on her mattress. Mike didn't need anything more than a beanbag next to a recharge station. She didn't even have a real bed, but Hex didn't complain. She would have sleep on the floor if it meant staying close to the guardian of Mainframe. She was so protective of him after he gave her an icon.

Bob noticed something folded up on her pillow. It was probably a sewing project she would never get to finish. He looked away. Watching Scuzzy was comforting, but curiosity got the better of him. If it was an incomplete project, Bob needed to put the sewing needle where Scuzzy couldn't get to it.

He unfolded it slowly. He had seen the pink fabric before, but he wasn't sure when.

It wasn't an art project. It was a cheap, short sleeved nightgown he had picked up for her shortly after she moved in with him. There was a white cat on it with the words 'You've cat to be kitten me right meow'. It barely touched her knees and did a good job of covering her collar bone.

Bob teared up again as he clung to it. This was his favorite thing to see her in. Either she had been sleeping with it or she was planning on wearing it the night she died. Her cat jumped onto the bed next to him and nudged his elbow. Bob sniffled and looked down at the cat.

"Good boy, Scuzzy." Bob looked at the nightgown. It didn't fit her as perfectly as her other one, but it always looked so good on her. "I miss Hex." Scuzzy crawled into the guardian's lap and started playing a recording of Hex baking a cake. "Thanks Scuzzy." Bob sighed "It's not the same though." Losing Hex and then being betrayed by Dot was too much to bare. He tried to distance himself; after all, it seemed to help Dot get through things. "I wonder what Dot is doing right now."

The cat gave him angry face before jumping down. Without a sound, the cat slowly walked out of the room.

But Bob couldn't bring himself to leave. This had been Hex's room. She had done so much for him, and he had been way too focused on Dot and Daemon to appreciate the cause of her efforts. He thought about how willing she had been to help him, despite her programming. Her last wish from him to be happy. She asked only one thing of Dot- to take care of him.

And yet, Dot was getting married while he was dying. She claimed to not know how bad it was. Apparently falling from that height and being encased in that whatever it was didn't seem like a red flag to her.

Loud meowing interrupted his thoughts again.

"Not now, Scuzzy."

The meowing continued.

"No."

It got louder.

"Scuzzy, whatever you want can wait a nano. I've got a lot on my mind right now."

The meowing ended. Bob sighed. Maybe he was being too hard on the cat. Scuzzy had lost lost Hex too, and there was no telling what Megabyte did to him while there was no one to protect the animal. It was helpless, so Bob thought. The poor thing was just a lap cat who happened to have a monitor on its head. He needed the guardian to protect him.

Bob's thoughts were once again interrupted by a familiar sound. Unfortunately, this was not the sound of helpless cat. Someone had opened a door, and the sound seemed to be coming from the living room. Who would enter without knocking, other than Mike?

But this was not Mike. Mike always needed a grand entrance. Whoever this was made no other sound.

Maybe that was why Scuzzy was meowing; someone had been approaching the door and the cat had been warning his guardian.

Bob rushed into the room and looked around. The room was empty. Not even Scuzzy could be seen, but the cat could be hiding under the couch again. Bob ran to the door and saw his cat walking down the hallway by himself.

"Scuzzy." Bob was firm. He inwardly reminded himself to be gentle with the small animal. The cat turned around. Bob was much calmer now. "Did you open this door?"

The cat grinned.

"So all this time you could open doors for yourself, and made me do it for you?"

The cat turned back around and started calmly walking away.

"I don't think so."

Bob walked a little faster than the cat. Scuzzy got faster. Before long the guardian of Mainframe was chasing the cat through the apartment complex. Scuzzy barely managed to make it into an elevator while the doors were closing.

Bob gave up and went back to his apartment.

Meanwhile, the Super Computer had a surprise for him. Turbo had put what he could of the Collective to hard work tracking down fragments of a certain virus's code.

It was hard to tell how close she was to deletion. There wasn't a lot of information on the health of viruses since most of them were sent to immediate deletion instead of studied. She wasn't flickering, but she could have been the kind that was used for scrap metal. Her mask was shattered, with no mouth and empty eyes sockets. It was amazing that the pieces didn't fall. From what little he had cared to hear about this virus, Turbo knew that this was a bad sign.

"I never thought I would have to thank a virus." The Prime Guardian looked at her shattered mask "Bob was right; you are worth saving." He looked at the armed medic next to him "Let's keep her under observation for a few more seconds. I don't want Bob to see her in this condition unless it's absolutely necessary."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So in this chapter, I made an inside joke. I just want to make it clear to everyone who isn't in on it that this is not a hint at Ray/Matrix, although someone out there will probably take it that way anyways.

Disclaimer: I don't own Reboot

Bob was laying on the couch. Hex's door was still open, and he couldn't stop staring at it. He felt so guilty. He was the guardian of Mainframe and Hexadecimal had been a virus; if anyone should have sacrificed their lives to defend the Net, it should have been him. Hex should have been alive and causing chaos. She had been a sprite when Daemon finally got to Mainframe. If he had just been a better guardian maybe Hex could be alive and happy in the Super Computer. Turbo would have protected her, if only out of gratitude for 452's sacrifice.

Instead she was gone and he was trying to act as though everything was alright. He was failing. Normally thinking of Dot would make him feel better, but now even that made his heart hurt. He never wanted to hear her voice again.

"Bob!" a vid window opened up. Mouse was in trouble.

Bob sat up. "Mouse, what's wrong?"

"Hexadecimal's cat was just in Dot's house." The hacker sounded mildly annoyed, but Bob knew otherwise by the grin on her face. "I thought you were watching that viral vermin."

Now it made sense- Scuzzy was doing what he thought Bob wanted him to. Bob said he wanted to know what Dot was doing, and Scuzzy went out spy on her. That was what Hex had trained him to do.

"He got out this morning." Bob wasn't about to tell anyone that Scuzzy apparently knew how to open doors. "I chased him until he got in an elevator. I kind of gave up after that. Do you know where he is now?"

"Probably not far. Dot just called me to exterminate it. I figured you would want to get to the cat before I do. I'm on my way to check on Dot. I'll try to keep her company until you track that thing down."

"Thanks Mouse." Bob stood up. "I'll be right there. I guess I probably shouldn't fly too high; I don't think now would be a good time for Dot to see me."

"I don't think so either, sugah." Mouse said as she watched him walk to the kitchen and get the cat treats. "That cat is going to be a pain in the ascii to train. There's no telling what kind of things Hex thought that critter. Old habits die hard you know."

"I know Mouse." Scuzzy was a very good cat, but Bob didn't have time to talk with her right then. "I'm working on it."

"Well, if you need any help, AndrAIa would probably know best. How in Net she gets Frisket to listen to her is beyond even me."

"Yeah." Bob laughed "I'll see you in a nano."

Soon the guardian was walking around Dot's neighborhood. "Scuzzy!" he called out, shaking the bag of cat treats "Here boy! It's time go home!"

"Well isn't this a photoshop moment?" Bob turned around and smiled at Ray as lowered himself to the ground "I was on my way to visit Mouse when she called me with a funny story."

"Oh really?" Bob played along "What happened this time?"

"Apparently some viral cat broke into the CommandDotCom's house not along ago." Ray gave the guardian a playful smirk "I can't imagine who let that happen."

"I can't imagine." Bob sounded serious, but the smirk on his face suggested otherwise "Think we should call Matrix for backup?"

Ray laughed a bit before joking again. "Probably not, mate. We wouldn't want the poor kid getting hurt."

The two busted out laughing; ever since Ray had found out Matrix wasn't supposed to be over one-two, the surfer had been treating the renegade like a child. Maxtrix didn't like it, but Ray was starting to see him as a little brother. Little Enzo seemed to like it more than his older self did, but that didn't stop Matrix and Ray from having a sleep over every seven seconds. Nobody knew what kind of things those men were getting into, but AndrAIa trusted Matrix.

"So, how are you enjoying Mainframe?" Bob asked "It must be nice to get to spend more time with Mouse."

"What makes you say that?"

Bob turned to look at Ray. "Aren't you guys dating now?"

"We were before she dumped me." It wasn't often that hint of anger in his voice. This was one of those rare moments.

"Are you sure that wasn't Megabyte using his Trojan house powers?" Bob asked, hoping to fix the problem. "You two were getting along so well."

"I've had this problem before." Ray admitted "I meet a woman who takes my breath and when I finally tell her about the baud, she wants a real sprite."

If Ray had any insecurities, that was one of them. His sprite form was just a hologram created by surf board. It gave him plenty of advantages, but apparently it wasn't something most people wanted in a partner.

"Did she really say you're not a real sprite?" Bob was upset too now, but he didn't think Mouse would say something like that. Still, this was Mouse they were talking about; it was hard to say for sure exactly what kind of things would come out of her mouth, especially if she was in an angry shock. If she did something even remotely similar to that, maybe Ray's insecurities would make it seem like more than she really meant.

"Those weren't her exact words, but she's been distant ever since." Ray looked at Bob with a smile "Up until you needed my help."

"She's had a lot to deal with. Have you have tried talking to her?" Bob suggested

"Of course." Ray kept smiling. Apparently his idea of 'distant' was a bit different from Bob's. "We've had some conversations since then, but it was never the same. She used to tease me, and I would tell her about some time whatever she was messing with me for got me into trouble. It always made her laugh. Her laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard."

"I'm sorry, Ray." Bob knew it hurt to lose someone you love, even if there was a chance of getting back together with her.

"I've still got the memories." Ray remained optimistic and calm, but Bob could hear the grief in the web surfer's voice. "They're worth the heartache."

"I know what you mean." Bob lowered his head

"Hex or Dot?" Ray asked out of impulse

Bob jumped a bit and gave his friend a look of complete shock. His cheeks were slightly indigo from the blushing. "What?!"

"Well, I just figured after everything those two did, you would have come to your senses by now." Bob could only stare in shock, so Ray took the opportunity to continue "Don't get me wrong, Dot's still a beautiful woman, but it's not everyday you meet a girl like Hex. She was the full package."

"What do you mean 'full package'?" Bob questioned. This conversation was probably a good example of why he was bonding with Ray so quickly- they were both so honest and understanding that they could say anything to each other without having to worry about saying something stupid.

"Well, let's see." Ray starting counting off the reasons "First off, that woman could bake! Cookies, cake, things I'd never even heard off!"

"I remember." Bob said softly. Thinking about Hex's cooking was making him hungry. "She helped me bake a turkey one time. It was more for her than it was for me, but I couldn't tell her that." Ray just smiled at nodded, knowing that Bob wasn't really the type of guy who could eat meat every second without starting to feel bad for the animals. Bob shook his head at the memory. "Scuzzy got a hold of my food just as I was sitting down."

"Hex just laughed and fixed you another plate?"

"And massaged my shoulders while I was eating." Bob openly admitted "I actually had to tell her to eat before it got cold. She ate half the turkey on her own. Viruses have the strangest appetites- they can put away more meat than three sprites and not gain an ounce. I don't know where she put it all!"

"I was just about to get to that." Ray said happily "Fact two- that girl was a show. Even when she was doing something as simple as eating, Hex could always keep me amused."

"You think it's attractive when a woman eats more than you do?" Bob was not impressed.

"Oh yeah." Ray admitted "There's nothing like seeing a woman with enough confidence to dig in in front of a crowd. Hex and Mouse are the kind of girl who I just want to take out for ribs." The surfer grinned "And watch them get the sauce all over their pretty faces."

"You are a strange man." Bob didn't say that to just anyone, but he felt like he could tell Ray anything.

"No, that's a pretty normal opinion where I come from." Ray said casually "Then again, I come from a strange system."

"I come from a strange system." Bob and Ray stopped. Scuzzy was near by. Bob gave the cat treats a shake and called for the cat, expecting him to come running. All he got was another recording. "There's nothing like seeing a woman with enough confidence to dig in in front of a crowd."

That gave Bob and idea of where Scuzzy was at. The surfer found him in someone's back yard, eating a rose bush.

"Now, now, little cat." The web surfer scolded gently. Scuzzy turned to face him "I think you know better than to run off and sneak into people's homes."

Ray reached out to pick up the cat, but he withdrew his arms when Scuzzy hissed at him.

"He doesn't trust strangers." Bob said as he walked up. He sat down and poured some cat treats into his hand. "Come here, Scuzzy. You're not in trouble." The cat rushed to his new owner. "See, he knows me." Bob told Ray as he put the bag down and pet the cat. "It only took him a few seconds to get used to me, but I think that's because Hex likes me."

"That makes sense." Ray sat down and picked up the cat treats. "Mind if I give it a shot?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Bob said. Ray ignored him. "I really don't want him to associate strangers with treats."

Scuzzy slowly krept towards the surfer. "He seems friendly." Ray said casually, putting the bag of cat treats back on the ground. "Most cats I've seen run from strangers." Ray tried to pet Scuzzy when got close enough. Scuzzy backed up and hissed again. "I understand." Ray pulled his hand back and extended the treats a little more. "I'll try again later." Scuzzy smiled and continued on his way to the surfer, just a little slower than before.

"He's usually not this friendly." Bob admitted

"I think the cat treats have something to do with that." Ray grinned at the guardian

"Probably." Bob agreed

"So, what's the deal with this little guy?" Ray asked "Are you trying to find a new home for him, or what?"

"No." Bob sighed "Hex loved that cat. The least I can do is look after Scuzzy while she's gone." Ray gave him a concerned face "What?"

"I hate to tell you this, but..." Ray trailed off

"I know." Bob finished for him "She's never coming back." Bob decided to finally let it out. "It's just, ever since we stopped Megabyte, I've been thinking about her. I miss her. I know she couldn't have survived that, but I've seen the trouble Hex can cause. She wasn't a typical virus, Ray. If anyone could survive that, it's Hex." Bob soon found himself venting to his friend. "She had more power than any virus I've ever seen. She was a class five- those are almost impossible to stop. She was practically a super virus."

"What is a super virus anyway?" Ray asked, picking up the bag of cat treats before Scuzzy could get them

"There are seven classes of viruses. We have bugs, then classes one through five. Super viruses are practically unheard of. Some used to say they were just a myth. Class ones and bugs are the most common. We guardians usually try to delete them before they can get to the third level."

"So to help me understand what's going on here, is Megabyte a class five?"

Bob shook his head. "Megabyte is technically considered a class four. He used to be a class three before he got updated in the Web."

"Wait a nano." Ray seemed to pale a bit "You're saying that a single class three was enough to take down this entire system, even with Mouse and Dot?"

"He was a very powerful class three. We had a lot of close calls with Megabyte before then." Bob admitted "There were times when I almost deleted him. If it wasn't for seeing what happened with Hex, I would probably still be willing to. But I can't delete him after I saw Hex get reprogrammed. She did more than I could ask of her. I have to find a way to reprogram Megabyte. I just have to find some way to avoid letting anyone else get deleted- especially Hex's brother."

"I don't think Hex is the kind of person who would want anyone to hurt her family, even after what Megabyte did to her."

"She could have done it herself if she wanted to." Bob reminded himself "No matter what he did to her, Megabyte was always her brother."

"That's touching, mate." Ray said sadly "Not all sisters are like that."

"If he had been half the sibling she was, I don't think Daemon would have had a chance."

"No, she probably wouldn't have been able to take the Net from them."

"Good point." Bob said cheerfully "I don't want to think about the trouble they could have caused."

"Do you really think Hex could have survived?" Ray asked.

"I don't know. I didn't get a good scan of her power levels before..."

"I understand." Ray didn't want him to finish. Bob shouldn't have to think all of that just then. It was a lot of stress, and there was still plenty of time to figure it out later. "There was a lot going on then."

But Bob couldn't let it go.

"What if she is out there somewhere?" He looked to the surfer for help "She would be weak. And hurt."

"I could make a trip to some other systems." Ray offered "I have friends all over the Net, and I can usually bypass the guardians and find some shortcuts in the Web. I'll have a look out for her in case someone finds her."

"Why do I have the feeling that you're making it sound easier than it really is?" Bob knew what Ray was offering was far from easy- traveling through the Web was dangerous enough. Running into a guardian while looking for a virus could be even worse.

"Maybe because you know I'm single now." Ray joked

Bob laughed. But Scuzzy sensed that his guardian wasn't happy and rubbed against Bob's leg in an attempt to cheer him up.

"That's a sweet cat." Ray admitted "I wouldn't mind taking him in for a few seconds if you ever need a break."

"Thanks, R-" Bob was cut off by Glitch spinning and beeping "What is it, Glitch?"

Turbo popped up on a vid window. "Guardian 452, you are needed in the Super Computer immediately."

"What's wrong?" Bob asked

Turbo looked away. Whatever the problem was, it was bad-very bad.

"I'll explain it when you get here. You may be here for a while."

"But Megabyte is still out here somewhere." Bob reminded the Prime Guardian "Mainframe is still in danger."

"I'm going to send another guardian to take your place for a while." Turbo assured him, but it didn't make Bob feel any better. The Mainframers didn't know about the experiment, and they would be very upset if they found out now. Now he may never get to make things right with Dot. "It's necessary. You are the only one who may be able to handle this." Turbo couldn't go into details now without Mainframe finding out about Hex, and he didn't want to get their hopes up. "We mostly just need some expert advice. You have more luck with these things than any other sprite I know."

"You are pretty lucky." Ray agreed "I'll watch the cat while you're away." He looked down at Scuzzy and smiled. "I guess this means I won't be able to leave the system any time soon."

"What was that?" Turbo asked sternly

"He's joking." Bob covered for him. After all, Bob was the main reason Ray was going to try to bypass the guardians. Chances were that Ray would have done so eventually anyways, but Turbo didn't need to know about that.

"There's already a ship on it's way to Mainframe." Turbo told the guardian of Mainframe, choosing to simply ignore the surfer. "You'd better be there the nano it arrives or there will be serious consequences, is that clear?"

Bob was very worried now. Turbo wasn't usually this stern with the revolutionist. This was beyond bad- this was some sort of disaster.

"Yes, Sir." Turbo smiled a bit at Bob's reaction and logged off the vid window.

With all of that out of the way, he leaned back in his chair. Perhaps he was being too secretive about Hex. Still, this was definitely an emergency. Hex was the cure for Daemon's infection. If she survived, perhaps Daemon had also. That was the latest rumor in the Guardian Collective, and everyone was concerned. There was a chance Hex knew something, but she was in no condition to talk. Someone had to fix that mask before Daemon could infect the Net again.

But while Turbo was dealing with all of that, Bob and Ray had their own problems to straighten out. Bob had no time to waste, so he quickly thanked Ray and went on his way, worried about what could scare Turbo so badly. And just as Ray reached out to pick up the cat and take him to his place, Scuzzy grabbed the cat treats out of his hand and ran with them. Ray chased after the cat, wondering if he had bitten off more than he was ready to chew.

What was Bob even feeding this thing?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Reboot

Turbo's office was warmer than Bob remembered. From all his visits to the office during his training, he knew that was a bad sign- a very bad sign. Turbo got cold when he was under stress, so the worse the situation, the colder his office. That was the main reason Bob was sitting so quietly, hesitant about which question to ask first. He had been leaning towards starting with why he couldn't have just opened a portal, but he was starting to think it may have had something to do with the changes in the Guardian Academy. The Supercomputer had always been clean, but now even the ceiling seemed to shine. There were even a few plants in hallways and a strawberry bush in Turbo's office. Maybe there was new security he wasn't aware of. That seemed likely, considered Daemon had managed to take over. Turbo couldn't let that happen again.

"Bob, we a have a number of problems." Turbo got straight to the point. "And one of them is the Mainframe Experiment."

"I know." Bob sighed "Megabyte is more powerful now than he was before. We're trying to track him down. After that, I plan on testing out a reformation chamber."

"You think you can reformat a virus into a sprite?"

"Theoretically." Bob knew Turbo would be doubtful of this possibility, but Bob knew he was on the road to a breakthrough. "Hexadecimal reformatted."

Turbo closed his eyes for a moment. The last time Bob had seen that, Dixon had just been deleted and Turbo agreed to let Bob experiment with the then weakened viruses. They were so much more fragile when they had just been born; so low on energy. Bob had managed to subdue them both on his own. Had Turbo not seen how easy it had been, the Prime Guardian would have scanned them and seen their capabilities. They would have been deleted on the spot.

The time before that, Bob was being assigned to Dixon. Why he got partnered with a mentor was still more than he could figure out.

"About the cure." Turbo said softly. It was a surprise. Since when did Turbo call Hex that? Then again, he didn't talk about her much, so far as Bob knew. The prime guardian hesitated for a nano before changing the subject. "When we brought you in after your fall, just before you woke up, we scanned you."

"And?"

"You seemed to have experienced some minor changes to your code."

"That's impossible!" Bob protested "How could my code change? Could merging with Glitch have had something to do with this?"

"That's a possibility." Turbo told him, paling a bit at the other possible explanations "Or it could have been from your time in the Web, or even the virus you trusted to save the entire Net."

"Hex wouldn't do that." Bob didn't fully believe what he was saying, but he had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knew what she would do in her final moments? "She saved the Net for my sake. Why would she mess with my code? There's no reason for that!"

"Other than the fact that she's a chaos virus." Turbo reminded him

"Could she have really been capable of doing that and still be able to save every system?"

"She was capable of fighting off Deamon's Net-wide infection. No one in the Super Computer knows exactly what her power limits are. Would you have any idea?"

"Nooo." Bob dragged it out. Turbo knew what that meant; Bob had a question. "Why are you talking as though she's still alive?"

Turbo leaned in. "Your reprogramming experiment isn't over yet. The cure barely managed to survive."

"She survived!?" Bob jumped out of his chair. "How? She was completely fragmented!"

"We found bits and pieces of her code scattered throughout the Net. It wasn't easy, but we managed to preserve them long enough to bring them back and put them together. We had to use data from other sources. Most formats couldn't complete the process, but as you know, the procedure had never been tested on a virus."

"She survived?" Bob was in shock. She was supposed to be deleted.

"Barely." Turbo continued "She's very unstable, and getting worse." He took a deep breath before telling Bob "We don't expect her to make it through the night cycle."

Bob teared up again. "Take me to her. Please!"

Turbo silently did what Bob asked of him.

Apparently some of Deamon's redecorating had been permanent, but that seemed to be for the better as far as Bob was concerned. Still, the constant reminder of the Net almost crashing wasn't going to make anyone's job easier. There was enough fear in the Collective without that. This was only going to cause panic. But Bob didn't say anything.

She was in a maximum security holding cell. The force field was up and there was another sprite with her. Despite the fact that his skin was darker, the green skin reminded Bob of Dot. Turbo immediately saw anger Bob's face.

"She constantly has a medic with her." Turbo assured him, not knowing what the real problem was. "We considered putting her in a private hospital room, but we were worried it would make any attempted escapes too easy. At first we tried putting her in a cell with weaker security, but the other viruses considered her a traitor to their kind and all tried to break out of their cells. We decided she would cause less drama here."

"When can I see her?" Bob asked. They had a lot to talk about, and he wanted to hear her voice. If she was able to talk, she would do so for him.

Turbo types a sort password into the security lock next to her cell. The force field vanished and the doctor turned around. Apparently he had been unaware of their presence.

"Why a soundproof force field?"

"Some guardians aren't very fond of her being here." Turbo tried to sound casual "I didn't want to take any chances of her knowing they were there if anyone decided to try to threaten her."

"Since when are you so protective over a virus?" Bob worried for Hex's safety. There was no way Turbo could genuinely care about a virus, much less trust her. Bob had always been sure that the experiment was just to keep him out of the way. If Turbo honestly wanted to keep the experiment going, why not give him a weaker virus? Hex would be too powerful if she was given the chance to heal, wouldn't she?

"Go talk to it before I change my mind." Turbo growled

Bob half ran to her side. "Hex."

"Bob knows how to handle her." Turbo said to the medic "You can take a break."

"Wait." Bob said, looking at her test results on the monitor. They both looked at him. "I've managed to do some testing on her while she was in Mainframe. I can't speak for viruses in general, but I know a little bit about Hex. Her blood pressure is too low and her heartbeat is too fast. She'll heal better with a few changes to her I.V."

The medic followed Turbo as he walked away. "Copeland, report that to the entire medical staff. I want this virus healed as fast as possible."

Bob watched until they were out of sight. The force field wasn't up. Without it, Bob worried for Hex's safety. What if someone decided to delete her while Turbo wasn't prepared? There would be serious consequences, but risking your life to destroy viruses was one of the biggest parts of the job. They were used to risking there lives, and Turbo would be much less likely to do anything to them than a virus would.

"You're going to be alright, Hex." Bob assured her. He thought he heard soft static. It could have been from one of the machines, but it was more likely to be the virus. "Save your strength." The guardian said gently, taking her hand.

He expected her to hold his, but there was no response. He lifted her hand. Her fingers hung limply, as though didn't have the energy to move them. Bob carefully put her hand back down on her bed.

He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't know where to start. After a few nanos, he made up his mind.

"Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own reboot

Turbo wasn't surprised when he walked into the holding cell and saw Bob still there sleeping in a chair next to the virus's bed. What did surprise him was that one of his guardians was holding a virus's hand.

The Prime Guardian silently crept up on Bob and quickly reached out his hand, hesitating for only a nano before taking Bob's icon.

"Negative, Sir." The medic said in disbeliefe. He had ran every test he could think of. It crossed his mind to retry a few test, but Bob had just gotten out from under his care and he didn't want to deal with this particular guardian again. "No sign of infection." He looked his superior in the eyes. "I still down trust that virus though."  
"I don't either, but she risked her life to save Bob. There has to be a reason for that."

"I don't trust him either."

"Yeah." Turbo agreed "There's definitely something wrong with him, but he means well."

"So open minded his processor fell out?"

"Something like that." Turbo wasn't sure how much to say. "But apparently he got this virus wrapped around his digits, so apparently he knows more than I thought he did. If it wasn't for his crazy experiment, we wouldn't be here right now."

"You aren't really planning on giving him more virus's to work with, are you?"

"I'm not interested in rumors right now." Turbo wasn't ready to confirm or deny anything

"I don't see any reason to keep them alive. With all due respect sir, the virus's you're keeping are just draining our resources. They don't do any except put others in danger. How long is it going to be before we find a usage for them?"

"I've put them all through testing." Turbo admitted "Most of them have already been deleted. I intend to make that clear to the Collective this afternoon. I was going to put it off until Bob left, but if this is bothering others, I'll be sure to let everyone know they're being weeded out."

"I think everyone would understand if you waited for Bob to get that virus out of here. We really don't need something that powerful figuring out that we plan to delete it."

"Nothing about that virus is final until we know if Daemon is still out there. Once we know if the Cron's Countdown if still a factor, the Counsil will determine what to do about the Chaos Counter."

'Putting this in the text files will change everything."

"The Council has already discussed this. Nothing is happening yet."

"But some will happen?"

"I'll let you know when I let everyone lese know." Turbo was ready to leave this conversation, before he could let it slip that the Guardian Council hadn't decided if future generations would ever need to know about this. "I need to give Bob his icon back."


End file.
